This is a new argument from the opposition that seeks to reduce the tax credit reserved for the 3.3 million individual entrepreneurs in France. According to figures from the Ministry of Economy transmitted by the newspaper Le Parisien this Saturday, October 21, the 5.92 billion euros disbursed in 2023 by the State to support French people who employ staff in their homes are mainly used to finance men or cleaning women. Specifically, half of the tax credit budget, that is, 2.9 billion euros, is allocated to these housing maintenance expenses. In addition, 15% of this sum is allocated to work related to garden maintenance.
A significant proportion compared to two other spending items, although essential, which are childcare at home, on the one hand, and assistance and help to the elderly or disabled, on the other.
In fact, the use of a babysitter only represents 7.7% of the total amount allocated to the tax credit. Regarding help for the elderly or disabled, it is financed with 16.9% of this total annual budget, that is, close to 1.1 billion euros.
A rejected device setting
A distribution of the tax credit that questions or even fuels doubts, in the opposition, about the objective pursued by this expensive system, while the government seeks to save for its 2024 budget. For socialist deputy Christine Pires Beaune, these figures show that the The tax credit benefits more affluent households, who are more likely to hire gardeners or maintenance workers to do the cleaning.
To reorient the tax credit, the chosen one proposed, in an amendment presented at the end of September within the framework of the PLF 2024, to modify the conditions of application of the system by significantly reducing the part of the expenses covered by the maintenance of the residence. . From the current 50%, he proposed reducing the portion of the amount reimbursed to 30% for household-related work under certain conditions. From a certain level of income, the modification provided for reducing the covered expenses to 10%. But this modulation of the conditions of application of the system was not accepted by the majority.
“We accept this policy towards the middle classes that allows them to reduce their taxes,” says Mathieu Lefèvre, Renaissance deputy for Val-de-Marne, member of the Finance Committee, in the columns of Le Parisien. This measure is due to the significant tax burden borne by the middle classes, without forgetting that beyond its objective of supporting households, the tax credit also aims to encourage activity and reduce recourse to undeclared work, the source of a significant deficit for the Government.
According to estimates, the budget for the home working tax credit is expected to increase further in 2024 and reach €6.7 billion.
Source: BFM TV
